Carers stories January 2010-

On this page we will keep you informed about animals that you have brought in to care with WIRES Northern Rivers branch. If you would like to know about a particular animal, please email us, and we will do what we can to keep you up to date.

February 2010

By Ros Glencross for Anne

Saturday 6th February I received a call from our roster regarding a fig bird at Coffee Camp

I called to Anne's place at Coffee Camp with the intention of collecting a Fig bird chick that had been found sitting on the bottom wire of a fence - mum nowhere in sight. When I arrived on Sat morning Anne told me that she had seen the mother flying around at about 11 pm. At that stage the chick was in a box on the outdoor table. It was able to perch but not fly. I came home and collected a hanging basket, filled it with leaves and attached it to a tree branch at the back verandah. Whilst there I gave it a small amount of fruit and asked Anne if she could support feed it and observe the mother and chick. I could see Mum flying about so felt confident she would continue to feed it.  Apparently Mum came back about every 15 mins to feed it!!!

I called in today to collect my hanging basket and Anne said Mum and young one flew off together about a week ago.

Thank you Anne for helping reunite Mum and chick.

February 2010

By Sue Ulyatt

WIRES rescuers Jackie and Ken collected a very small Ringtail possum called in to our emergency roster on 14 February and brought it straight to me as it had been brought in to the caller by their cat. In cases such as this it is vital that the animal is given antibiotics as soon as possible to stop infection.

 

I opened the pouch expecting to see a small Ringtail possum, but was most surprised to see a juvenile Sugar glider the colour of a Ringtail.

 

 

Sugar gliders are grey with a black stripe running from nose down their back. This one had the right markings but the wrong colour.

I kept the little female in care for 6 days to ensure she had no ill effects from being caught by the cat, and as her course of antibiotics were finished I called Jackie and Ken to release her where she had come from so she could join her mum and colony.
I called the person that had found the little Glider as we needed to return her to the right location as Gliders are territorial. This one also would need to find her mum. Although she was at dispersal stage of development, she would still need the colony for survival.

The caller informed me that the cat had smelled strongly of eucalypt when it had returned home with the little Glider, and the only eucalypts were close to his house.

Gliders are released well after dark as predators are many, so this little lady was taken to the site at 9pm.

Jackie and Ken opened the carrier cage by the eucalypt trees and the little Glider jumped out, did a hop on the ground and leapt up the tree. It continued right to the top and disappeared from sight.

Jackie said she had never seen anything move so fast. The glider had recognised the smell of home.
Sugar Gliders can have a brown tinge when very old, but in approximately 13 years of caring I have never seen a healthy young brown Sugar Glider. Just goes to show there are still surprises out there in the wild.

 

February 2010

By Melanie Barsony for Cathy

Cathy noticed this Nankeen Night Heron chick on its own in a park in Casino while she was walking her dog.

 

She called WIRES when she arrived home, but in the meantime the chick had wandered off.

I managed to locate the chick after some searching, it was very dehydrated and starving.

 

Heron adults will not feed their chicks if they fall from the nest, unlike a lot of other birds.

 

 

Thank you to Cathy for finding this unusual chick, without help it would have surely died.

 

February 2010

For Mary

 

When Mary realised her orchard netting had become a deadly trap for a snake she called WIRES for assistance.

 

 

 

WIRES reptile handlers Helen and Melanie went to Dyrabba to Mary's property and found this Eastern Brown snake in big trouble as you can see, totally entangled in the netting.

 

Helen and Melanie managed to free the snake which was very dehydrated and it will be in care until it has recovered form its ordeal.

Thank you Mary for calling WIRES.

 

Please be advised only trained reptile handlers should handle a snake, do not attempt a snake rescue such a this unless you have been properly trained.

 

February 2010

For June

June from Eureka found this tiny Mountain Brushtail possum lying under a tree on her property. June called WIRES and the little female was brought in to care. She was very dehydrated and undernourished indicating that mum may have been ill for some time before the joey was found. Mum was not located unfortunately.

Possum was given intensive care, it is early days yet and we will keep up informed as to her condition.

Thank you June for calling WIRES

UPDATE:

Unfortunately the little possum joey did not survive, she died after 4 days in care.

January 2010

This little Red-Necked wallaby came into care in September 2009 a victim of the Repco car rally. Her mum was killed by a spectators car near Kyogle.

She spent her first 4 months in care in a nursery pen with another 4 Red-Necked wallabies of similar stages of development, cared for by WIRES macropod carer Tina.

 

She has now moved to a 1 acre pre release enclosure built by Tina partly paid for by donations from Northern Rivers members of the public. Large enclosures such as this are needed to prepare hand reared macropod's for release back to the wild.

Image on the right shows small shelter within the enclosure where supplementary food and water is available.

The little joey will be released in approximately 4 months time.

 

January 2010

For Alan

Alan was slashing a section of property that is seldom slashed when he realised he had run over a large Carpet python coiled around her eggs. Mum python was dead and many of the eggs had been exposed and the tiny hatchlings had also died.

However a number of eggs were still intact, so Alan called WIRES asking would the eggs possibly hatch. WIRES reptile coordinator Michael collected the eggs and after 7 days the eggs started to hatch.

 

 

 

 

Some of the little hatchlings can be seen in these images, 11 were returned to Alan's property.

 

 

Thank you Alan for calling WIRES and giving these tiny snakes a second chance at life.

 

January 2010

For Annette

Last August late at night when Annette was on her way home, she came across a dead wallaby on the road, she stopped and found this tiny joey in her mums pouch. Mum had been dead for some time and her joey was dehydrating and suffering from hypothermia.

WIRES macropod carers Sherryn & Dave spent the next weeks fighting to keep the joey alive giving intensive care day and night.

The joey finally responded, seen in image to the left 3 weeks after coming in to care.

 

 

Joey is now 10 months old, she is a Red-Necked wallaby and doing extremely well she will be released back to the wild in about 4 months time with other wallabies she has grown up with whilst in care.

 

 

 

 

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Thank you Annette for stopping and calling WIRES.

January 2010

 

This Bandy Bandy snake was found trapped in a swimming pool skimmer box. It was still very much alive and after a few days in WIRES care, ensuring it had no injury from it's ordeal was released back to the wild.

January 2010

By Ros Glencross

I received a call from WIRES emergency roster to ask whether I could collect a flying fox caught on barbed wire from a property at Blue Knob. The member of the public had managed to release the bat and had put in a pillow case secured with string as instructed by the roster person.  I was heading to Ballina and by chance Lib WIRES flying Fox coordinator was in Ballina at the time. I collected the bat, met Lib and handed it over to her care and it was given some much needed fluid

The flying fox was lactating and as there seemed to be no injuries to the animal Lib was wanting to release it back where it was found so it could hopefully be reunited with its pup.

She collected me on the way through to Blue Knob the following day, witnessed both by the rescuer and myself the Flying Fox was released. My first release!! Must say I am now hooked on flying foxes.

January 2010

For Mick

Images by Lisa Lucken

 

This adult Squirrel glider was found by Mick on his property at Cawongla caught on barbed wire. Mick carefully untangled the glider and called WIRES.

 

The glider was treated for a deep wound on his lower abdomen at Lismore Central veterinary clinic, then collected by WIRES carer Tina.

 

 

He was given daily antibiotic injection for some time, and after three weeks in care he is finally ready for release back on Mick's property where his colony is located.

Thank you Mick for calling WIRES.

 

January 2010

For Andrea & family at Brunswick Heads, by Sharon McGrigor

This little Squirrel Glider was handed in to WIRES by Andrea & her family at Brunswick Heads. She weighed only 80g and was found orphaned and alone. They fell in love with her and named her Pretty Girl.

Pretty Girl was underweight and needed to be fed on a specialized diet which was supplemented with bugs.

 

 

Pretty Girl also needed to build up her muscle tone so that she could learn how to glide.

 

She was placed in intensive care until she stabilised and was then transferred to a large outdoor enclosure where she could learn to socialize with 2 other Gliders about her own size.

Pretty Girl is now doing very well and is enjoying discovering the tastes of various barks, saps and foliage.
She will be released into the wild, in her new nest box home with her new family once she has achieved release weight.

Thanks to Andrea & her Family for passing her over to WIRES

January 2010

For Pam by Sue Ulyatt

This tiny Swamp wallaby was found by Pam at Richmond Hill on 10th December 2009. There was no sign of the joey’s mother.

WIRES receives many calls for Macropod's (wallabies, kangaroos and pademelon's). Most of these calls relate to car accidents or dog attacks but in some cases, as with this little fellow, the reason for the joey being orphaned is unknown.
On arrival he was very undernourished and extremely dehydrated. He was given intensive care before he regained strength and interest in life, and he was named Phoenix.

He is approximately five and a half months old. At this stage of development he would still be in mum’s pouch, peering out as she forages for food.

As he is now fully recovered from dehydration, shock and malnourishment he spends his days in the macropod enclosure still in his pouch, not yet old enough to venture out, but it will not be long before he will as interact with the other wallabies in care and learn vital survival skills only other Macropod's can teach him.

Raising wildlife is a responsibility all WIRES carers take very seriously. Intensive training is undertaken in order to ensure all animals are given correct treatment whilst in care, ensuring the animal has the best chance of survival after release.

Raising wildlife is not like raising a kitten or a puppy that will be looked after for the rest of its life. When wildlife is released back to the wild, they have to have all the skills necessary for survival such as knowing what to eat, where to find it, and recognising predators, which includes domestic dogs and cats. They must also be able to cope with changing weather conditions, including knowing how to find shelter and water.

This little orphan has a long road ahead before his release back to the wild in nine months. He will spend this time in a large enclosure interacting with other macropod's in various stages of development. Here they learn macropod behavior from each other and skills vital for their long term survival..

Image on left 2 months after coming in to care.

 

 

January 2010

By Alicia Carter for Sky

This little bandicoot was found by Sky on the way back from the Channon Markets late on Sunday night.  . 

Something caught his eye as he was driving along after a long day at the market so he stopped and found the dead mother.

He then noticed a little deceased sibling so he kept looking around and found this little guy, still alive.  He knew one of our carers Julia was just around the corner so he whisked it over to her post haste.  He weighed only 30g and had no fur whatsoever so it took around the clock intensive feeding to keep this lucky little bandi alive.   Fortunately this little bandicoot is doing very well and will be released very soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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